Romney was 100% correct in saying that 47% of the people of the US would not vote for him.
Those 47% are afraid Romney would make them work for their welfare checks or institute a welfare reform program such as Gov. Tommy Thompson did in Wisconsin,
Thompson’s W-2 program (“Wisconsin Works”) was the first welfare reform program in the country that insisted able-bodied welfare recipients had to find work. It made welfare recipients adhere to time limits. Thompson added to the W-2 large dollops of money to pay for training, transport, health care and child care. Thompson raised state subsidies for childcare from $12 million to over $150 million.
Since the formation of W-2, the number of Wisconsin families receiving welfare declined from 100,000 to 8,000.
Almost everyone agrees that America needs to end welfare as we know it. The harmful effects of the welfare system have proven to be destructive to individuals and families all across America. The failed welfare system has perpetuated a cycle of dependency on non-work and non-marriage. Yet in the face of this disparaging prognosis, the state of Wisconsin has been able to cut its welfare caseload in half and help millions gain independence.
The real star of welfare reform today is Governor Tommy Thompson, whose perseverance and dedication brought about this Wisconsin miracle. Governor Thompson was first elected in 1986, re-elected in 1990, and once again in 1994. He is past chairman of the National Governors' Association as well as the Republican Governors Association. During his tenure as governor, he has worked diligently to completely overhaul Wisconsin's welfare system. Wisconsin became the first state to institute genuine work requirements for welfare recipients. It bases welfare assistance on the philosophy that idleness and dependency are harmful to the recipient and the recipient's family. Therefore, in Wisconsin, the recipient of welfare must perform useful labor in exchange for benefits he receives. The programs that have been instituted in Wisconsin are important for the nation to study as models and guides for true and real welfare reform throughout America. I believe any state could do these things and subsequently witness the same kind of reduction in its welfare caseload.
We are most pleased to have Bill Bennett with us to comment on Governor Thompson's remarks. Bill is the John M. Olin Distinguished Fellow in Cultural Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation and co-founder of Empower America. He has served as Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy and as President Reagan's Secretary of Education. He has written extensively on the subject of welfare and other societal issues.
We are absolutely delighted to welcome Governor Thompson and Bill Bennett to The Heritage Foundation to tell us why Wisconsin's success story is truly good news for America-and that good news is that welfare reform can and will work !
